NEW VIDEO: How I Came Out & Left Being Evangelical, AND the New Max Gets Curious

It’s time to tell my story… so I made a video about it!

This is the one where I was born into a fundamentalist Christian church (even if we always insisted we were non-denominational).

The one where I went from memorizing Bible verses on Friday nights to starting to question everything I always thought was The Truth.

The one where I came out and made a new life. I found a new family and learned how to make home. And I JUST turned 21. (I know, not bad for 21, right?)

Guys, it was so freakin’ scary to shoot this. I’m one of those people who’s always been terrified to be on camera.

But it’s time to tell this story.To explain why I love getting curious and how life-changing it was for me. To remind others out there, they’re not alone. And to thank everyone who’s helped during this crazy ride of a year.

So here it is. If you only have a couple minutes to spare, you can skip to a clip you’re interested in (the times are listed in the YouTube description.) Give it a like, a comment, hit subscribe, if anything resonates. I know some of you will. ❤

This story kicks off a new video series where, every 2 weeks, I’ll ask a question about how we live in our world, like looking atthe world mapupside down (how did Europe get to be the center anyway?) and sharing how polyamorychanges what love means to me. If you want notifications of new videos, hit subscribe!

And another piece of news…

I’ve been evolving, guys, and it’s time for this blog to evolve with me.

That’s why Max Goes Godless has been under some serious revamp these last few months and weeks. And it’s why…

Max Goes Godless is now Max Gets Curious!

I’m moving on from writing about leaving my faith because, well, it’s long left. And in its place is LIFE.

Max Gets Curious is all about asking questions about this world we live in and how we get to live in it.

From now on I’ll be writing not just about religious reform, but lifestyles, cultures, mental health, self-love and personal development, and more.

I wanna know more about how other people live. Like,

Do you ever think about how you can turn the world map upside down? With what other perspectives can we see the world?

Where the heck do our beauty standards come from and how are they different across the planet?

What’s polyamory and how does it change how we see love?

This world is so much bigger than we remember sometimes, and I just wanna explore it.

If you’ve been following along for a while, I hope you’ll come get curious with me! Sign up for the email list, like on FB or follow on Insta, or if you’re curious about the videos to come, subscribe on my brand-new YouTube account!

Why the change?

See, when I first got to study abroad in New Zealand 5 months ago, I got to meet Lilia Tarawa, a well-spoken, badass woman who left the Gloriavale Christian cult in New Zealand. I stumbled across herTED Talkon YouTube just before I left, then her social media. Her heart just radiated through her posts: self-love, personal confidence, love of family, it was all there. I’d never seen a former fundamentalist like me turn her story into a power all its own and shared it with the world. And man, did it change everything.

I showed up to a facial workshop in Wellington just so I could meet this lady (and make my face feel clean as heck, lol). We laughed over ex-fundamentalist solidarity and she gave me a signed copy of her memoir. But I left with more than that.

I went home wanting to turn my story into a source of hope too. And all while I was in New Zealand, I stewed about it and then set about making it happen.

I set up a Facebook and Instagramfor the blog, now @maxgetscurious, writing mini-blogs and connecting with tons of other people in body positivity, mental health recovery, self-love, and mental health. I began Far From Alone, a story spotlight for people making their own paths in life.

But I’ve evolved, guys, from when I first started this blog. Some of you might even remember me from back in the day! It was in high school, when I was questioning and rethinking and losing my faith. (Oy vey.)

See, I started Max Goes Godless to figure out how the hell to live outside the Evangelical bubble and recover from a lot of what I was taught. I wrote about harmful Evangelical ideas, trauma, recovery, and mental health. Shit was heavy. It was real. And it was important.

But uh, as so many of you know, to say the very least, a lot’s changed since then!

I accidentally Kool Aid Man’dmy way out of the closet, blurting out to my parents that I wasn’t Christian or straight. Home wasn’t safe anymore, so I began a new life at age 20, teetering on the edge of nothing and everything. And since then,I’ve come alive.

Max Goes Godless will always, always have a special place in my heart, but I’m not in the throes of recovering from Christianity anymore. I’m not focusing on trauma or the heavy stuff because it’s no longer got power over me.

Instead, I’ve been exploring this world and how I can live in it, making friends my chosen family, getting confident in my own skin and taking ownership of me for the first time in my life.

I’m officially godless, and I wanted this blog to evolve with me.

I’ve got dreams of becoming a public speaker, spreading messages of why open-mindedness is so damn powerful and how it relates to self-love, mental health, our relationships, public dialogue and politics, and so much more. (I’ll be applying to give a TedXTalk at my home university in spring!) Because there’s something to this story of mine.

I spent weeks brainstorming, outlining, writing and rewriting the mission of this blog, until finally it hit me. When I started losing my fundamentalist faith, I started getting curious about the world. It’s a world so much damn bigger than the one I was living in. And I never lost that curiosity. Instead, now it lives in the center of me.

Hey revivalish, I’m SO glad to hear that and you’re so encouraging, like usual! I remember how it can feel to live in an environment where you can’t be your full, safe self, and I hope with all my heart that you get to a better place soon. 💛 Knowing that others are still in situations like yours/mine is why I keep telling my story.

I will definitely stick around for this new phase of your online presence! Even though I was in my 30s before I allowed myself to question and ultimately leave fundamentalism your story reminds me of my own in some ways. I have been living freely and authentically for 15 years now, and life is far richer and more colorful than I ever imagined it could be. Sometimes I still have trouble remembering life is far bigger than what I see at the moment thanks to my narrow upbringing, and that may always be a lifelong struggle. But the work is worth it.

I’m so glad you’ll stick around and even happier to hear about your story! We’ve all got different timelines (joining an ex-Evangelical FB group has taught me that), but what matters is where we end up. How you feel about life is how I’d describe it too. It’s just rich. Thanks for sharing where you’re at now, and here’s to growing, always, no matter where and no matter when. 💛